


An Earlier Heaven

by OMGitsgreen



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, One Village AU, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 04:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6037855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OMGitsgreen/pseuds/OMGitsgreen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You have to promise me, that if anything ever happens, Gods’ forbid it, that you will come to my village.” In an alternate take on canon, a promise creates a series of events that brings about the founding of one dragon village, and the life and world and tribulations of the Dragon Warriors who are born there. Following multiple generations for the span of 2000 years, until the oath that binds them together can be fulfilled. Original One Village AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Earlier Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the beginning of my new WIP, the One Village AU fic that I’ve been excited to start for a while! This fic will follow a few generations of Dragons in the canon-alternative take on this question: What if instead of multiple dragon villages there was one? 
> 
> Please Enjoy the Prologue!

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."  
-George Bernard Shaw

* * *

“You have to promise me, that if anything ever happens, Gods’ forbid it, that you will come to my village.”

The words were accentuated by wavering flame, the heady scent of drying herbs, and the familiar company of two dearest friends. They fell ancient and resonated like a long held oath that had yet to be put into words until that very moment. Guen had been meaning to bring it up, perhaps in what Abi would call a more “tactful way”, but Guen didn’t really do tactful. Even after all of his years in palaces and as a King’s noble retainer, no one could change the soul of a simple peasant boy and soldier that had always lived on within him. However with Hyun-Ki’s little head resting in sleep upon his lap, glittering baby dragon claws lightly curled in Guen’s pant leg, he couldn’t help but speak it out loud. (Hyun-Ki has been so excited to see his Uncles that he had worn himself out showing everything he could do with his little claws and even though the spark of pride still burned warm in Guen’s chest there was also something vaguely terrifying about how young his son was).

Abi and Shuten sat silently for a moment, Abi running his hand through his hair while Shuten took another sip of sake. The din of evening light spilled muddled and red through the windows of the hut and fog that stretched like the silence between them. Winter had just passed, however spring had yet to completely take hold. The dreary weather leaving the ground still hard, muddy, and cold which met with the warming air in a chilled fog that swirled like a thick cool blanket that was not pleasant and could never be totally shaken off. The hut was well worn and well-used and filled with a comfortable warmth. His wife Eun kept it brimming with rugs she wove and spun, earthen pottery, and the fire stoked with food always bubbling away. Even pregnant with their second child, Eun was always on the move, and Guen loved that about her. And it felt right to have Abi and Shuten there in the house and place that Guen and Eun had built together with their knees in the dirt, rocks scraping their fingertips, and the whipping winter winds of the mountains upon their backs (even if one person was missing from their reunion, flickering far away with golden flame).

It had been almost ten years since they had all sat in a room together like this. By chance Abi’s wandering clan had come to the base of the mountain, and Abi had taken the opportunity to climb it up and meet with him. Abi’s wife Hana and Eun had become fast friends, and Guen had been glad as for a few days Guen and Abi enjoyed each other’s company as old friends. Soon thereafter they were joined by Shuten. As if he were a moth drawn by laternlight and no longer able to bare it, Shuten had suddenly (but not completely unexpected) hopped half-way across Kouka to meet them, sailing on the breeze and into the village as if he were just as insignificant as a falling leaf. Shuten had immediately requested warm sake and had come up with a half-baked excuse of needing a place to rest before going to the sea, and Guen and Abi had accepted it easily and knowingly.

“What brings this on?” Shuten asked him finally after finishing his drink, Abi just remained pensive as he gazed out the window to the side, a bandage still covering his eyes. Guen wondered what he saw there, but the vision of Seiryuu’s eyes was always going to be beyond him.

“I just…I had this feeling, you know?” Guen answered. “We’re family, all of us. And I want to let you know, that no matter what you and your families will always be welcome in Hakuryuu Village.”

“How would entire families fit together, we can barely talk without arguing,” Abi said with a tone as flippant as the summer breeze, but even Abi couldn’t hide the fondness there that made Guen chuckle and reach over (carefully as to not disturb Hyun-Ki) and give Abi’s shoulders a squeeze.

“That is how brothers are, Abi! We love each other to death,” Guen chuckled, the merriness bubbling up from deep within his belly.

“Annoying,” Abi said but Guen saw a smile tugging at his mouth. “Very well, I promise.”

“As long as you have good liquor, you’ll see me,” Shuten promised him airly, however he could not minimize that raw feeling in his eyes that glittered with the crackling firelight betrayed the depth of feeling he hardly ever let slip pass his blasé facade.

“If you ever see Zeno, you must promise to tell him so as well,” Guen said firmly, something like hurt immediately skittered across Abi’s face as he deftly removed himself from Guen’s embrace, and Guen let him go.

“Do you think he would ever come see us without seeing you first?” Abi asked of him firmly, Guen simply looked back to Hyun-Ki and gave his hair an affectionate stroke.

“I do not know if Zeno will ever leave Hiryuu Castle,” Guen said, his guilt seizing him as he looked upon his son. Zeno had been young too, until the end, when worry had been hidden beneath a warm smile. If only Guen had reached out to him then, but no—Guen had done all he could do then. “We left him there to deal with our troubles, perhaps he will not forgive me for it.”

“If that were the only reason, and if Zeno were so petty, I doubt he would be the idiot we know,” Abi told him solemnly taking a sip from his own cup.

“Weren’t you the one who said we would all meet again?” Shuten asked Guen. “What? Finally going back on that childish idealism of yours already?”

“You wish,” Guen chuckled, tossing a persimmon in his direction, only to have Shuten catch it and flash a sharp-toothed smile.

“Being cynical is Abi’s thing. Your grating idealism is yours, don’t ever change that,” Shuten told him with a splash of seriousness and humor in turn. 

“I suppose you are right,” Guen couldn’t help but laugh. “But you both will promise won’t you?”

Abi’s roll of the eyes, and Shuten’s pleased sip of sake stated everything that Guen ever needed to know.

A week later both Abi and Shuten left Guen’s Hakuryuu Village, a promise and new oath born between them. After that, Abi settled down in a forested region, and Shuten found what Guen could only assume to be family in the far west. That was the last time either Abi or Shuten ever came to Hakuryuu Village, and even until the end Zeno never came to see what Guen had founded. However what Hakuryuu Guen would never know was, that promise would be the foundation of something bigger that would only flourish entirely after 2000 years world pass.

It was only the start, but every founding needed to begin somewhere.


End file.
